HOUSE FINCH. 



17 



for its home it was only a matter of course that the bird should 

 select as its secondary food the nearest available source of supply, 

 namely, fruit. For seeds, which are to be regarded as the linnet's 

 natural food, grow about the borders of orchards and by roadsides, 

 and hence are readily obtained. 



Although the great bulk of fringilline birds normally subsist 

 principally upon seeds, at certain times, notably in the breeding 

 season, they eat a considerable quantity of animal food, mostly 

 insects. Moreover, their young while still in the nest are usually 

 fed largely, and in some cases entirely, upon insects. Quite the con- 

 trary is true of the linnet. The adults eat only a small percentage 

 of animal food, even in the breeding period, and feed their nestlings 

 no more, perhaps less, than thej^ eat themselves. In this respect the 

 linnet is probably unique in its family. Such animal food as the 

 bird does eat, however, is much to its credit. Plant-lice (Aphidse), 

 especially the woolly species, constitute a large portion of this part 

 of the linnet's food; caterpillars and a few beetles make up most of 

 the remainder. 



It is, however, as a seed eater that the linnet stands supreme. 

 Over 86 percent of its food for the year consists of weed seeds, and it 

 is in this field, if anywhere, that the bird redeems itself from the 

 odium of its other misdemeanors. When the immense number of 

 linnets in California is taken into consideration, with the added fact 

 that each one destroys several hundred seeds daily, most of which are 

 potential weeds, it must be conceded that the bird renders a valuable 

 service to agriculture, for the sum total of weeds so destroyed is 

 enormous. 



FOOD. 



In the laboratory investigation of the food of the linnet 1,206 

 stomachs were examined, including 46 of nestlings. All were from 

 California, and from points fairly well distributed over the State, 

 with the exception of the northern quarter. The greater number were 

 from the fruit-growing sections, so that the western coast region 

 is better represented than the part east of the Coast Ranges. They 

 were distributed through the year as follows : 



January _ 

 February 

 March ___ 



April 



May 



June 



July 



88 



35 



186 



80 



74 



167 



148 



August 



September 

 October __. 

 November . 

 December . 



118 

 123 



10S 

 25 

 54 



Total 1,206 



9379— No. 30—07- 



